Family
by superlc529
Summary: Starts right after "Powerless", Nathan gets shot, Peter and Claire are reunited, and Heidi finds out the truth about Nathan, his abilities and Claire being his daughter. Oneshot. Please read and review.


A/N: I don't own Heroes. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little bit. The italicized part in the beginning is Nathan's direct speech from episode 2x11, "Powerless". The rest is from my brain. This is a one-shot and I hope you enjoy it. I love writing Nathan, Peter, and Claire. I hope I keep them in character. Please read and review. Thanks!

FAMILY

_Matt Parkman, Nathan Petrelli and Peter Petrelli_

_Odessa Police Station, Odessa, Texas_

"_Good Afternoon," Nathan started. "Most of you have no idea who I am… My name is Nathan Petrelli and I was elected to Congress in the state of New York. Seems like a long time ago… I lost my position. I lost my brother. I lost my family. I'm sad to say that I've lost my way."_

_He took a pause and continued, "But while I was gone, I've had the chance to see the world through newly humbled eyes, witnessed amazing things; seeing ordinary people among us trying their best each day to be heroes. These ordinary people, like you, like me, are capable of extraordinary things. You have no idea, how extraordinary. But there are other people, organizations, who don't want you to know the truth."_

_Once more he took another pause and looked up, "I myself kept secrets. But last year something incredible happened to me and it changed my life. First I was afraid… but I'm-I'm not afraid anymore. I'm here to tell you the truth."He looked to his brother Peter for strength as he braces himself to reveal to the world his ability to fly, "I have the ability…" _

_BANG!! BANG!! _

_Panic ensued throughout the room as shots rang out. Peter and Matt flinched and it took them a second to realize that Nathan was the one who was shot as he closed his eyes from the impact. Nathan fell into Peter's arms as Peter yelled his brother's name for him praying for him to be okay and Nathan said his brother's name weakly to try to verify his presence and that he was still alive. Matt was standing over him as the cameraman tried to catch the fallen man on camera. Peter wasn't paying any attention though. All of his focus was on his fallen brother._

"Call an ambulance!," Matt yelled to a cameraman but he continued to tape Nathan slowly dying. Not taking any more crap, Matt thought projected, _"Call an ambulance!"_ to the man who immediately took out his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"It's going to be okay, Nathan. You're going to be fine," Peter kept repeating over and over again like a mantra. He was trying to convince himself more than his brother because he knew as a nurse and a mind-reader that he had already slipped unconscious. While Peter was supporting Nathan, Matt had tried to find the shooter by reading everyone's mind but failed. All he heard was static like the Haitian.

The next couple of minutes for Peter were a complete blur. Next thing he knew, he and Matt were on their way to the hospital in the ambulance with Nathan. Matt had used his new skill to get the paramedics to let them in the ambulance to come with them to the hospital. They arrived to the hospital and all Peter and Matt could do was wait while the doctors did what they could for Nathan.

Time passed and Nathan was put in a room to recover. They managed to remove the bullets but he still was in critical condition and bleeding profusely. His shirt was off from the two bullet wounds with white bandages covering them that had turned a very dark crimson from the blood. They hadn't put him in a hospital gown due to his extensive injuries, so he remained shirtless though he was still dressed on his bottom torso. Matt and Peter sat next to him at his bedside. Peter had his head in his hands hoping and praying for a miracle.

"I wish Nathan could heal like somebody I met," Matt said breaking the silence that caused Peter to lift his head leaning further back in his chair.

"What?," Peter asked because he didn't hear what his friend said.

"There was this girl I met that could heal… regenerate. I just said that I wish Nathan could do that. He'd be okay by now," Matt repeated.

"That's it!," Peter exclaimed happily standing up.

"What's it? He can't regenerate!," Matt yelled.

"I know but I can… I absorb abilities remember," Peter started and started pacing putting his hand to his chin, thinking, "But I don't think my blood will do anything since I acquired it and couldn't do it naturally."

"What are you talking about, Peter?," Matt asked wondering where he got the regeneration ability from but then thought of how Peter had met Claire when he saved her at her homecoming game and said, "Never mind."

"_I just wish I knew where to find her," Peter thought._

"I think I know how you can find her," Matt asked referring to Peter's thought and after Peter glared at him he apologized, "Sorry, force of habit."

"But she doesn't even know I'm alive and I don't know where to find her," Peter said voicing his thoughts.

"You absorb abilities right? Do you have to be directly next to them?," Matt asked interested.

"Are you going somewhere with this?," Peter asked a little annoyed. He didn't have any time to waste. His brother was dying.

"Well you were at Kirby Plaza… obviously and there was a little girl there, Molly, she can find anybody anywhere on the planet just by thinking about them. Maybe you were close enough to her to absorb her ability," Matt suggested.

"Really?," Peter asked finally sounding hopeful after about an hour or so of losing hope. "Just a minute…" Peter began thinking about his niece, Claire, and the next thing he knew he saw an image of her in his mind talking to a guy about her age with brown hair and a striped shirt in her room. He focused further out, noticed the address, street name and ventured further to see that she was in Costa Verde, California. "I got it… I know where to find her. I'll be back as soon as I can with some help. Stay with him."

Matt simply nodded and said, "I'll be right here by his side. I'm not going anywhere, you two are my best friends." Peter nodded an acknowledgement, closed his eyes and teleported out. He combined Hiro's ability and Molly's so he could teleport to Claire's exact location. That caught Matt by surprise so all he did was mutter under his breath, "That is so much cooler than reading minds."

Right after Peter disappeared a brunette woman with two little boys busted in the room. One boy was in her arms and the other was walking next to her. She seemed shocked that somebody else was in the room with Nathan.

"Um, hello," Matt greeted unsure of what to say because he didn't know who they were but figured from the woman's distress that she must have come a long way with two small boys just to see Nathan.

"Hi, I'm Heidi… Nathan's wife and you are?," Heidi introduced herself.

"Detective Matt Parkman," Matt introduced himself smiling a little that he was able to put the word 'Detective' in his title.

"Are you investigating who shot him?," Heidi asked clearly intrigued walking closer to him in the room and set the boy Matt could only assume to be her son down.

"Yes and no," Matt answered. "I'm one of Nathan's friends. I was with him when he was shot and I tried to stop the shooter but he sort of disappeared before I could get to him."

Heidi just nodded and sighed dejectedly, "This is Simon and Monty. They're our sons."

"Nice to meet you," Matt said smiling. They reminded him a little of Molly. "Don't worry, your daddy is going to be fine. His brother is bringing help."

"His brother? Peter? He's alive?," Heidi asked shocked. "Angela… his mother, told me he died in the car explosion that caused Nathan's disfigurement that clearly now has somehow healed."

"Peter's very much alive, Mrs. Petrelli," Matt replied.

"How? And please call me Heidi," Heidi asked.

"I'm not sure I'm the one that should tell you, and call me Matt," Matt replied.

_Claire Bennett & West Rosen_

_Bennett (Butler) Home, Costa Verde, California_

"I'm not going to expose the Company," Claire said dejectedly to her boyfriend.

"You're not?," West asked skeptically.

"No… my dad, he's alive. The Company used my blood to regenerate him. He came back and told me that I can't expose the Company, so for once in my life… I'm going to listen to him," Claire answered.

"Well, I'm glad you're not. And I'm glad you're staying," West said and smiled which got a smile in return. They embraced in a hug, Claire was facing the window and West was facing her bedroom door, out of nowhere a man appeared in front of him. "WHO ARE YOU?!," West yelled scared causing Claire to turn around and stand mouth agape in complete shock.

"PETER?! OH MY GOD!!," Claire yelled and ran to crush her uncle in a huge bear hug which he was happy to return. "You're alive! Nathan was right! What are you doing here?".

"I need your help, Claire," Peter simply said coming out of the hug.

"I'm sorry, who are you?," West asked completely confused.

Realizing that West had no idea who her hero was she thought an introduction would be a good idea, "West, this is Peter… my hero. Peter this is West, my boyfriend."

"Good to meet you, and I don't want to be rude, but Claire I really need your help," Peter said shaking West's hand.

"Anything," Claire replied.

"I need your blood," Peter started.

Claire furrowed her eyebrows confused at the odd request, she knew that he could regenerate like her, "What do you need my blood for? You can heal."

"I need it for Nathan…," Peter started but was interrupted by his niece, "Nathan?! What happened to him? Is he okay?".

"He was shot. We were in Odessa, Texas and called a press conference. Nathan was giving a speech. He was going to reveal to the world what we can do and expose the Company but someone got to him first," Peter explained with venom in his voice when he mentioned the 'someone' who had shot his big brother.

"He was going to expose the Company? I was going to do that," Claire said realizing how much she really was like her biological father.

"Yeah, and right now he's in the hospital in critical condition and the doctors think that he's not going to be able to make it to tomorrow but if you healed him, he'd be fine," Peter said with hope in his voice and then realized that West was still in the room and looked to him worried that he had inadvertently revealed Claire's ability.

Claire noticed the direction of his gaze and his sudden uneasiness and quelled his fear, "It's okay, Peter. He knows about us. In fact he can fly."

"Speaking of flying, you two are crazy if you think I'm flying you both to Texas. I don't have super-strength, you know," West said not realizing that wasn't what she was implying.

"We don't have to fly… I can teleport us there," Peter said. "You don't have to come."

"If Claire's going, so am I," West said coming closer to Peter. He simply nodded and looked back and forth at Claire and West.

"Fine, let's go," Peter said placing his hands on their shoulders and teleported out.

_Nathan, Matt, Heidi, Simon, and Monty_

_Odessa General Hospital, Odessa, Texas_

"Exactly how is he?," Heidi asked petting Nathan's hair back from his face. He looked deathly pale and was sweating. He was losing too much blood.

"He's in critical condition and…," Matt started and then looked to the young boys unsure if he should continue. Heidi noticed his hesitance and nodded signaling that he should continue, "The doctors think that the amount of blood loss might be too much for him and he won't be able to make it to tomorrow unless he stops bleeding."

_"I'm so sorry, Nathan. I shouldn't have pushed you away. I shouldn't have taken our boys from you. Maybe if I hadn't been scared or selfish, or even have listened to your mother, we could be at home right now instead of here," Heidi thought looking down at her husband's pale features. Matt couldn't help but listen in, it was a force of habit. He gave a small smile looking at the loving woman, empathy radiating off of him._

"Hey Mommy, I just saw Uncle Peter in the hallway!," Simon yelled coming back inside the room. He had left the room because there's so much that a little kid can do in a hospital room without getting bored. Peter didn't want to teleport the three of them in Nathan's room, afraid that their sudden appearance might give Matt a heart attack.

"What?," Heidi asked in disbelief. Peter opened the door and motioned for somebody else to walk in. Two teenagers and Peter walked in the room causing Heidi to stay standing in a shocked stupor at the sight of her very much alive brother-in-law.

"Heidi? What are you doing here?," Peter asked when he noticed his sister-in-law in the room along with his nephews.

"We flew in as soon as we heard what happened… I thought you were dead. Your mother told me you died in the car explosion over four months ago," Heidi replied still shocked.

"Believe me, Heidi, you can't trust a single thing my mom says. I promise we'll explain everything to you in a minute," Peter replied.

"Officer Parkman?," Claire asked when she noticed the other presence in the room.

"Actually it's _Detective_ Parkman now," Matt corrected happily, "But you can just call me Matt, Claire."

"You know Claire?," Peter asked amazed at how connected they truly were.

"Yeah she's the girl I was talking about before," Matt said.

"How do you know Matt?," Claire asked her uncle.

"We met after I saved you at your homecoming game but don't worry, _everything_ will be explained in a minute," Peter said walking closer to his brother's bedside where Claire had already taken place on the opposite side.

"He looks so pale," Claire said brushing his hair out of his face that fell back down after Heidi had moved it.

"Well we're about to change that," Peter said grabbing a syringe from the table next to Nathan. Claire put out her arm and waited for Peter to stick it in. She was amazed that all she felt was a little prick and looked up and all Peter said to explain was, "Nurse". Claire smiled as he drew out her blood.

"Uncle Peter? What are you doing?," Simon asked when he saw him taking Claire's blood.

"We'll explain _everything_ in a little bit, buddy," Peter answered, ruffled his nephew's hair, and then released Claire's blood into Nathan's IV bag just as Adam put his own blood in it before. Knowing that it would be pretty much instantaneous, he took off Nathan's bandages as all the occupants in the room saw the two holes miraculously close up. In its place was dry blood. Nathan's color returned to his face and his sweating ceased. Peter and Claire were still the only ones standing next to him, the others were at the foot of his bed. Heidi was holding Simon and Matt was holding Monty whom of which Heidi entrusted him with, and West stood behind Claire by the foot of the bed.

"Pete?," Nathan said groggily waking up, his eyes half open.

"I'm right here, Nate," Peter said as Nathan opened his eyes fully.

"How am I not dead? The last thing I remember is speaking at the press conference and then nothing but pain in my chest and falling into your arms," Nathan asked and recounted. He pulled the breathing ventilator from his nose because he no longer needed it. For the moment the only person he saw was Peter because Claire's blood was still flowing through him repairing anything else that ailed him and he wasn't fully aware of all his surroundings quite yet.

All Peter said as a response was, "Claire" and looked in the direction of his niece which caused Nathan to turn his head to see his daughter's smiling and teary-eyed face.

"Claire? What are you doing here?," Nathan asked and sat up fuller. "If I were you I wouldn't have done anything for me, especially after the way I talked to you before."

"I wanted to… I know you didn't mean what you said, well except for the part of Peter being alive. Besides you were a hero at Kirby Plaza. You saved the world," Claire said shrugging her shoulders in an "it's-no-big-deal" fashion and tried to lift his spirits.

"That's true Nathan, you were the one to save the world, out of all of us," Peter said causing Nathan to smile back at his brother and continue the smile in Claire's direction.

"Just so you know Claire, I'm _really_ sorry for giving you the cold shoulder. I was mad at the world, but more specifically, myself. I saw myself as a monster. I hope you can forgive me," Nathan apologized changing the subject. "And whenever you want to talk to me, call, anytime and we'll talk about anything your little heart desires."

"I'll accept your apology if you accept my apology for the way I doubted you when we first met," Claire said giving him an easy ultimatum.

"Of course I do… I give lousy first impressions," Nathan said and smiled trying to lighten the mood.

"I accept your apology too," Claire said. Nathan widened his arms signaling that he was waiting for a hug and she entered it quickly, "I love you."

"I love you too, Claire," Nathan said hugging her as hard as he could, kissing her hair. His eyes were closed tight as was hers as they just reveled in each other's arms for a moment, happy to have a somewhat normal experience as father and daughter, finally letting out his emotions. However, Nathan and Claire's professed love to each other caused five others in the room to be very confused.

"You love her?," Heidi asked confused as to why her husband would admit to loving a teenage girl and finally making her presence known to Nathan.

"Heidi? What are you doing here?," Nathan asked coming out of the hug and finally realizing that his wife, sons, and Matt were in the room too as well as some kid Claire's age. Claire moved over next to her uncle so Heidi could come closer to Nathan. Now completely healed, as well as his back-ache from flying Matt from New York to Texas, Nathan fidgeted around until he was in a more comfortable sitting position in the bed.

"I came to see you, so did your sons," Heidi said starting to omit anger. "What did you mean by you love her anyway?". She was praying that she wasn't the 'blonde' that that reporter was talking about all those months ago.

Nathan closed his eyes and figured now would be a good as a time as any to tell the truth, finally, "She's my daughter."

"Daughter?," Heidi, Matt, and West questioned in unison.

"Now I'm really confused," Matt said.

"Get in line," West said sarcastically folding his arms across his chest.

"I told Heidi, that we'd explain everything in a minute so I guess now we should explain _everything_," Peter said hinting that besides confessing about his daughter that they also were going to tell her about their abilities and prove it.

"Start with her being your daughter," Heidi said folding her arms across her chest but before Nathan could answer Monty asked with his innocent little voice, "We have a sister?".

"Yes Monty, you have a sister. Actually she's your half-sister but your sister all the same," Nathan tried to explain with a small smile gracing his lips.

"How _old_ are you?," Simon asked looking up at her. He was now sitting at the foot of his father's bed with his brother seated next to him.

"Sixteen almost seventeen," Claire replied which caused her two younger half-brothers to widen their eyes at the "huge" number. After all they still were in elementary school.

"So it was before we even knew each other?," Heidi asked unfolding her arms, even though that based on Claire's answer that it was, she just wanted to hear it out loud to make it real.

"Yes Heidi, it was before we met… I thought she had _died_ fourteen years ago, well almost fifteen years now but I didn't know she was still alive. I thought she died in a fire when she was eighteen months old," Nathan explained.

"Okay," Heidi simply said. In that one word she told her husband that that was fine with her and was happy for Nathan that he had another child in his life and she even omitted a small smile in Claire's direction. "So would you care to explain how you no longer have any gunshot wounds?".

"Or a back ache?," Nathan said trying to make a joke looking at Matt. Matt just gave him a smug grin and narrowed his eyes.

"Here, use this to wipe off that dry blood, Smarty-Pants," Matt said handing Nathan a wet Kleenex. He took it gratefully with a small smile at his own little joke.

While Nathan took the time to clean himself off a bit West turned to Claire and said, "So you've got two dads and both of them were shot in the same week."

"Yeah… don't rub it in. I guess I should have told you I was adopted but well I guess that's just another attribute to what makes me, me," Claire said teasing.

"So I'm guessing he, uh Nathan, knows about your ability otherwise he'd be freaking out, right?," West asked.

"Yeah he knows and we'll explain everything don't worry," Claire said assuring her boyfriend and kissed him on the cheek.

"This explanation is going to be long," Nathan said.

"We're not going anywhere," Heidi said folding her arms once again.

"Do you mind if I get out of this bed first. It's a little unnerving that everyone is staring down at me," Nathan said. For a guy that ran for Congress and was used to giving speeches in front of many people, he sure could get unsettled easily by having his family all looking at him. Everybody stepped away from the bed so he could get up.

"Maybe I should take the IV out of your hand first, Nathan," Peter said gesturing to his taped hand. Nathan just nodded as his brother and took the IV out. Now standing, and still shirtless, Nathan was ready to answer all questions.

"All right, what do you guys want to know first?," Nathan asked looking to his wife and sons. Matt had joined him on his left side and his brother, daughter, and West on his right.

"How are you all healed?," Heidi wanted to know. "And I'm not just talking about just now with your gunshot wounds. I'm also talking about how you no longer have any scars or burns from that car explosion."

"First of all there was no car explosion," Nathan replied.

"Nathan, don't start with your story of Peter being a bomb," Heidi warned. "Your mother told me that you're starting to have the same delusions of grandeur that your father had."

"Heidi, you can't believe my mother. I'm not crazy. Peter really was a bomb. I got scarred and burned like that because I flew him up in the sky as he was giving off radiation so he wouldn't blow up half of New York!," Nathan yelled frustrated and losing his patience. He knew he sounded like a madman even though everything he said was true.

Before Heidi could retort or walk out Peter stopped her, "It's true Heidi, I was a bomb."

"You both have it," Heidi said with disbelieving eyes taking her little boys hands and started to walk to the door hurriedly but as she reached the door and was about ready to stretch out her hand for the door handle and leave the room, Peter appeared in front of her, "What the?".

"We're telling the truth, Heidi," Peter simply said while she still had her eyes widened from shock of seeing him appear in front of her from out of nowhere.

It's a little hard to not believe something when you see it with your own eyes so Heidi turned to Nathan and said, "So you… can… really fly?". The words sounded ridiculous coming out of her mouth but after witnessing her brother-in-law appear out of thin air in front of her it was starting to be a little more plausible.

"Yeah, it's been what I've been trying to tell you," Nathan said and before he could continue to say anything else, West cut in, "You can fly too?".

"What do you mean _too_? Who _is_ this kid?," Nathan asked and pointed his finger at West and looked around to see if anybody could give him an answer. He just realized that he's been completely honest about himself with a complete stranger to him in the room.

"He's my boyfriend West," Claire explained.

"Boyfriend?," Nathan asked raising his eyebrows, his paternal instinct kicking in full gear. He knew that she was at that age where she would date but he didn't quite grasp the fact that she might actually have started dating already.

"I've never met anybody else who can fly before," West said amazed.

"Ditto, well except for Peter," Nathan said and looked to his brother.

"Wait exactly how much can you do, Peter?," Heidi asked. She was deeming herself insane from even believing any of this stuff but she just needed to know.

"I absorb the abilities of others… I'm called an empath," Peter explained. "I've literally lost count of all the stuff I can do. Last year I absorbed a nuclear power that I couldn't control and I blew up… Nathan flew me up in the sky where I wouldn't be able to hurt anybody."

"So you exploded?," Heidi asked not believing her own words and all Peter did was nod. "You really are a hero, Nathan." Nathan smiled in response happy that his wife finally believed him.

Figuring everyone was confessing their abilities, Matt stepped up and said, "I'm telepathic and I can do other things with the mind too."

"Regeneration," Claire said and then explained, "I can heal from anything… I've even died before, a couple times actually. That's why Peter didn't die from exploding, he had my ability. My blood can heal others too, that's why Nathan's healed now but I don't know about why he's healed from before."

"Adam," Peter said explaining, "He's like you, Claire, except he's four hundred years old. He regenerated so many times that after a while he stopped aging."

"Is that going to happen to me?," Claire asked clearly intrigued and worried.

"I don't know," Peter replied.

"Daddy?," Simon started wanting to enter the conversation. "Can you show us how you fly?".

"Well I can't fly around too much in here but I'll levitate and move around a bit," Nathan replied kneeling down to be eye-level with his son. At his confused face from the high vocabulary, Nathan simplified it and said, "I'll float for you okay, buddy?". After a vigorous nod from both his sons, Nathan started to float about two feet off the ground and did one lap around the room coming back to his original position but remained in the air.

"Oh my God," Heidi said in shock. _"I guess he wasn't delusional," she thought and then remembered what Matt said about being telepathic and looked in his direction who quickly turned his head to look at Nathan. She knew he heard her but just smiled instead of getting angry at him._ "I can't believe this… this is all so unreal."

"It does take getting used to, but don't worry… you'll get used to it eventually… I did," Nathan answered and smiled as his wife returned the smile.

"Nathan?," West started unsure if he had the right to call him by his first name but when he wasn't corrected he continued, "Can I ask you a personal question?".

"Kid, I'm floating here, I've got no shirt on, I'm telling everybody about my hidden past and you want to ask a _personal_ question? Just ask it," Nathan answered sarcastically.

"I was just wondering… how fast can you fly?," West asked indifferent to Nathan's sarcastic response. He wanted to know if he was faster than him and his question inadvertently turned into a competition for the two men.

"I've broken the sound barrier… how about you?," Nathan asked putting his two feet back on solid ground folding his arms. They sounded like two guys who were comparing how fast their cars could go.

"Not that fast but I've never really tried to go that fast. In fact I've been wondering how to do that," West said crossing his arms, an intrigued expression crossing his face, and walked closer to the shirtless man.

"Well you know when you're just flying at a leisurely pace?," Nathan started gesturing with his hands in an explanation. West nodded and motioned for him to continue. Everybody else in the room was staring at them laughing inwardly at their topic of conversation. The whole thing seemed ridiculous but it was real and it was happening. "Well all you do is just bend your knees and propel yourself to go faster."

"That's all? Wow I probably could've just figured that out on my own," West said in realization. "Thanks though."

"Ha ha… You guys through bonding about flying?," Claire asked sarcastically unable to hold in her laughter, coming up behind her boyfriend, wearing a sarcastic smirk on her lips.

"What's so funny?," Nathan asked.

"You two… you should have heard yourselves just now," Claire answered. Nathan and West looked around at the room and saw everyone was holding in their laughter. Matt was just smiling, his sons actually were giggling quietly, and Heidi and Peter had their hands over their mouths to cover up their mirth.

"I can't believe everything that you guys can do," Heidi said in disbelief, uncovering her hand from her mouth. "Is anything else going to manifest?".

"I don't know what's going to happen but whatever happens we'll deal with it as a family," Nathan said looking around the room at his brother, niece, wife, sons, Matt and even West, "Because that's what we all are to each other… _family_."

THE END

A/N: I hope you enjoyed my story. I hope the ending wasn't too sappy or corny. I hope I kept everyone in character and made this story entertaining. I loved writing it and if you get a chance please review and please don't forget to watch the 2-hour premiere of HEROES: VILLAINS Season 3 on September 22, 2008 at 9pm ("The Second Coming") and 10pm ("The Butterfly Effect") with a countdown show at 8pm . It's going to be so awesome!! :)


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